MORE ON: campaign contributions

Daily Report: Money and Politics

Term limits ballot measure attracts big-money donors, little else

June 4, 2012, 12:05 AM
SACRAMENTO – More than 17 million Californians took the time to register to vote. About 726,000 of them stopped long enough to sign a petition putting Proposition 28 on tomorrow's ballot. But in a signal of just how insular the state's political process has become, not a single... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Project examines patterns of state's biggest campaign donors

May 31, 2012, 1:05 AM
Seventeen months ago, I started teaching an investigative reporting class at Stanford University. It would last only 11 weeks. But my 16 Stanford students laid the groundwork for a project that California Watch will unveil just in time for the California primary election. The project, which... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Libertarians fight business-labor coalition on term limits

May 23, 2012, 12:05 AM
Out-of-state libertarians are trying to defeat a term limits measure on the June ballot, but so far, they haven't been able to match the financial heft of the coalition of unions and business interests backing it. Prop. 28 would tweak the current term limits regime by reducing the total... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Critics struggle to end 'pay to play' in school bonds

May 14, 2012, 12:05 AM
Critics of the practice in which financial firms help pass school bonds that they profit from are continuing to push for reforms, but so far have faced resistance and failure. In California, underwriting companies hired by school districts to sell bonds often make campaign contributions to... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

As super PAC money flows, an effort to divert cash to charity

May 7, 2012, 12:05 AM
With the American political system deluged with super-sized donations, a few innovative proposals are trying to harness small donors and, in one case, divert campaign cash to charity. The Federal Election Commission recently OK'd a proposal to let consumers cash in loyalty program points,... + read more
Spotlight: Money and Politics

With campaign donations, bond underwriters also secure contracts

May 3, 2012, 12:05 AM
Leading financial firms over the past five years have donated $1.8 million to successful school bond measures in California. In almost every instance, school district officials hired those same underwriters to sell the bonds for a profit. + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Public disclosure is next frontier in campaign finance reform

April 20, 2012, 12:05 AM
After recent court rulings struck down significant campaign finance limits, the next frontier in the debate over money in politics appears to be public disclosure – whether there should be more or less of it. That sticky question formed the main source of argument among election law... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Candy magnate to host Santorum rally despite donations to GOP rivals

March 29, 2012, 12:05 AM
In September, Herman Rowland, a Fairfield candy manufacturer and GOP donor, gave $2,500 to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, then a contender for the Republican presidential nomination. In November, as Perry faded, Rowland gave $1,000 to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In December, he gave $2,... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Some California donors give to multiple GOP presidential candidates

March 26, 2012, 12:05 AM
The Golden State’s primary is two months off, but California Republicans already have pumped more than $26.6 million into the prolonged fight for the GOP presidential nomination. That includes $15.2 million in direct donations to front-runner Mitt Romney; challengers Rick Santorum, Newt... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Calif. money flows to super PACs as state lawmakers seek limits

March 23, 2012, 12:05 AM
Wealthy Californians are keeping the money flowing to super political action committees, even as some state lawmakers want to turn off the faucet. Super PACs on the left and right drew hefty contributions last month from the rich and famous – such as controversial comedian Bill Maher and... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Calif. gets top marks for public disclosure of political spending

March 16, 2012, 12:05 AM
California has some of the best public disclosure of independent political spending in the country, according to a report released yesterday, but the state ethics watchdog wants to go further. The National Institute on Money in State Politics conducted a nationwide study of state... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Super PAC backing Santorum gets help from California

February 24, 2012, 12:05 AM
Shortly after Rick Santorum’s strong finish in the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, three Californians stepped up to give $50,000 each to the super political action committee backing the former Pennsylvania senator. The donations were not as big or as plentiful as those flowing... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Whitman, former finance chair for Romney, gives little funding this time

February 15, 2012, 12:05 AM
UPDATE, Feb. 20, 2012: In a filing five days after this report was posted, Romney's Restore Our Future PAC reported a $100,000 donation from Whitman. Back in the 1980s at Boston’s Bain & Co. business consulting firm, partner Mitt Romney mentored a promising young executive named... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Californians fund super PAC that hounds GOP

February 13, 2012, 12:05 AM
Everywhere Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney goes, he is followed by "trackers" with video cameras, hoping to catch him making an embarrassing gaffe.  The effort, run by a super political action committee, is funded in part by wealthy Californians. American Bridge... + read more
Daily Report: Money and Politics

Pro-Romney super PAC rakes in California cash

February 2, 2012, 12:05 AM
If super political action committee dollars were votes in the Republican presidential primary, California would already have voted resoundingly for Mitt Romney. Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting the former Massachusetts governor, collected $2.3 million from Californians last year,... + read more
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